In the last 12 months, Google has made two significant changes to their SEO ranking formula.
Panda was their ranking update that focused on reducing the value of low quality content...
And Penguin was their ranking update that penalised websites for having low quality links.
Panda and Penguin really shook up the SEO industry... in a good way.
How has SEO changed?
In the past, you were able to rank a website at the top of Google by publishing hundreds of low quality articles around the web and getting thousands of links from low quality sites. Now, that same strategy can actually hurt your rankings.
Today, to rank at the top of Google for a competitive keyword phrase, you need to publish high quality content and get reputable websites to link to you. Quality is now far more important than quantity.
Is SEO dead?
Since Google's Panda and Penguin updates, there's been a lot of talk about the 'death of SEO'. But this couldn't be further from the truth. The fact is, the number of people searching on Google each year is growing. And while people are using Google to search for something, and Google ranks websites organically, SEO will be highly relevant.
When you see statements like 'SEO is dead', what they're actually referring to is that traditional 'low quality' SEO is dead. Now, to rank at the top of Google you need to focus on producing high quality content and then marketing that content effectively online.
Short-tail vs Long-tail SEO
There are essentially two types of SEO - short-tail SEO and long-tail SEO.
Short-tail SEO is all about ranking for competitive keyword phrases that have a high number of people searching for them each month (think 'car insurance'). This type of SEO requires building links from reputable websites by publishing high quality content around the web.
Long-tail SEO is all about driving a high volume of SEO traffic by publishing quality content on your website. The content that you publish will appear on Google for obscure keyword phrases that are only searched for a few times per month (think 'where is the best place to get car insurance in Sydney') but you will have hundreds or thousands of these keywords sending traffic to your site.
Any effective SEO strategy incorporates both short and long-tail SEO tactics to maximise rankings and traffic.
Content Marketing is the new SEO
Content marketing is the process of producing high quality content and then leveraging that content to drive SEO rankings and traffic.
Content is published on reputable websites to build high quality links back to your site so you can rank for competitive short-tail keywords. Content is also published on your website to drive long-tail SEO traffic.
Content published on your website and around the web is then promoted through social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter to increase its exposure even further.
How Web Profits can help
At Web Profits we've been implementing a Content Marketing strategy for our clients for many years, which is why many of our clients have seen a boost to their rankings and traffic since Google's various updates.
" After just 7 months Web Profits brought us to the top of Google for our most valuable terms car insurance...a remarkable result! In my view, Web Profits are among the top online marketers in Australia. "
When you work with Web Profits you're working with a team of specialists that care about your success. We don't just focus on ranking your website at the top of Google using Content Marketing strategies, we also focus on how much new business you're receiving from your investment with us by tracking the performance of your website and then working with you to improve it over time.
